China reports 17 new COVID-19 cases

Mainland China on Sunday reported 17 new coronavirus cases, mostly in the Chinese capital of Beijing.

The National Health Commission said 17 new infections were confirmed on Saturday, down from 21 a day earlier. In Beijing, 14 new confirmed cases were reported, down from 17 a day earlier.

Since 11 June when Beijing reported its first case in the current outbreak, stemming from a sprawling wholesale food centre in the southwest of the capital, 311 people in the city of more than 20 million have contracted the virus.

Mainland China reported three new so-called imported cases on Friday, infections linked to travellers arriving from abroad.

That compares with four cases a day earlier. That took the cumulative number of confirmed cases in mainland China to 83,500.

Mainland China reported seven new asymptomatic patients, who tested positive for COVID-19 but showed no clinical symptoms such as a fever, down from 12 a day earlier.

The national health authority does not include asymptomatic patients in its tally of confirmed cases. The death toll stood at 4,634, unchanged since mid-May.